What role does the EU play in your daily lives? What does it mean to be European? What does EU solidarity mean? How do you see Europe's future? These are some of the questions that the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Cioloș will address on the 17th of March in Bucharest during the 50th Citizens' Dialogue with around 250 citizens from all over Romania

"Europe needs to listen more to its citizens; to make sure that policies designed in Brussels take into account the diversity of an Union of 28 Member States with over 500 million citizens, each with his/her own dreams and expectations. We are now building the Europe of the future, and want to make sure that Romania's citizens are heard in this process, that their views are taken into account. I invite you to take part in this dialogue, in order to discuss what kind of Europe we would like to have and how to build it together", said the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Dacian Cioloș.

The Dialogue will take place on 17th of March from 11.00 to 13.00 at the National Library of Romania (Atrium Hall, Unirii Blvd. 22). It will be moderated by TV journalist Luca Niculescu. The event will be webstreamed and citizens from all over Europe can also participate via Twitter using the #EUDeb8 hashtag. The dialogue will continue with 10 more citizens' debates at local level, organised in cooperation with the Europe Direct network in Romania.

Background

A recent Eurobarometershows that 56% of Romanians feel European (59% is EU average) and that 63% of Romanians are optimistic about the future of the EU (51% EU average). However, only 40% say that they know what rights EU citizenship brings and only 19% consider that their voice is being heard in the EU (29% EU average). 63% of Romanians would like to know more about their rights as EU citizens.